In
a surprise election outcome, the Conservative Party led by David Cameron has
been elected to govern the United Kingdom for the next five years, and this
time on its own majority. The results of the fiercely fought elections belied
pre-poll predictions of a tie between the Labour and Conservative parties and a
hung Parliament in which the support of smaller parties would be key to
crafting a coalition arrangement. The final outcome — predicted accurately only
by the single exit poll published at 10 p.m. after polling ended — has the
Conservatives comfortably past the midway 326-mark in the 650-seat House of
Commons. The Labour Party, whose leader Ed Miliband ran a bold and earnest
campaign that focussed on a new and fairer deal for the working people, has
come a far second. The party’s traditional stronghold of Scotland has been lost
to the Scottish National Party (SNP), which has swept up all but three
of the 59 Scottish parliamentary seats. The Labour Party has also lost out to
the Conservatives in England and Wales. The Liberal Democratic Party — perceived
as untrustworthy for having reneged on its electoral promises while in
coalition — was decimated, its numbers down from 57 in the last
Parliament to just eight, and with several of its prominent leaders, including
Vincent Cable, the Secretary of State for Business who had a prominent role in
promoting trade with India, defeated. The right-wing anti-immigration,
Eurosceptic United Kingdom Independence Party has got only one seat; its
leader, Nigel Farage, failed to win one.

The
Conservative Party takes credit for steering the country into economic recovery
and creating two million new jobs. Its five-year mandate comes at a time when a
million Britons depend on food banks for their survival, and where the numbers
of people in poverty, according to a report from the New Policy Institute, have
increased in the last two years by 800,000, from 13.2 million to 14 million.
The numbers in “deep poverty” have increased from 8.9 million to 9.6 million,
the same report states. The Conservative manifesto commits the party to welfare
budget cuts of 12 billion to reduce the deficit. This comes over and above
austerity measures that have already been undertaken. With Britain’s National
Health Service in a financial and staffing crisis, higher education costs
skyrocketing, a serious housing shortage on the cards, and utility costs
soaring , the new government would appear to have its tasks cut out. Addressing
these issues through the austerity route will rapidly abort Mr.
Cameron’s promise of building “an even greater Britain”. Moreover, the
uncertainty created by the in-out EU referendum pledged before 2017 by the
Conservatives is likely to present a challenge for its international relations,
even beyond EU.

1.Choose an appropriate title for the
passage.

1) UK, The
New Democracy

2) The
Election

3) The Return of The Tories

4) Black
Friday

5) None of
these

2.Which
of the following can be true according to the passage?

A) In the
end Conservative Party won the election.

B)The
Conservative Party won all but three seats in Scotland.

C) The
numbers in “deep poverty” have increased from 8.9 million to 9.6 million.

1) A and B

2) A and C

3) B and C

4) All A, B
and C

5) None

3.What
does the conservative party manifesto commits?

1) To steer
the Economy towards betterment.

2) To
create two million opportunities for the unemployed.

3) To give
poorer the support they need.

4) None

5) The Party commits to reduce the deficit in the upcoming year.

4.What
is the characteristic of the passage?

1) Narrative

2)
Expository

3)
Technical

4)
Persuasive

5) None of
these

5.Which
of the following can be the meaning of the phrase “which has swept up all but
three”?

1) which
won by three seats

2) which
has got three seats more

3) Which
has lost by all but three votes

4) Which has got three less than the total seat

5) None of
the above

6.What
is the antonym of the word “earnest”?

1) Grave

2) Sober

3) Frivolous

4) Staid

5) None

7.What
is the antonym of the word “belied”?

1)
Contradict

2) Reveal

3) Confute

4)
Controvert

5) None

8. What
is the synonym of the word “decimated”?

1)
Convolute

2) Craven

3)
Diffidence

4) Exterminate

5) None

9.What
is the synonym of the word “perceived”?

1) Discern

2)
Comprehend

3)
Apprehend

4) All of the above

5) None of
the above

10.What
word “austerity” mean?

1) Difficult economic condition created by government policies
to reduce public expenditure.

2)
Difficult decision taken by government to reduce the burden on poor.

3)
Difficult economic situation in a country with such increasing poor.